1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general memory systems, and particularly to, systems and methods for initializing a memory system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Contemporary memory systems typically incorporate fully provisioned storage volumes or thin provisioning storage volumes. In memory systems incorporating fully provisioned storage volumes, a single bitmap is utilized to track initialization of a memory device and to track copying of data stored in the memory device to a secondary memory device after the memory device has been initialized. Specifically, a fully provisioned storage volume requires that the storage volume be completely formatted before data can be written to the storage volume. The bitmap tracks which memory tracks have been formatted during initialization. After the storage volume is completely formatted (i.e., each memory track is initialized), the bitmap essentially changes function such that the bitmap no longer tracks formatting of the storage volume, but instead, begins tracking which memory tracks have been copied (i.e. mirrored) to the secondary storage volume. Since the bitmap utilized in the fully provisioned storage volume is used to track both formatting and copying functions, the bitmap is capable of only tracking the formatting and copying functions on a per memory track basis.
In memory systems incorporating thin provisioning storage volumes, a single bitmap is also utilized to track both the initializing and the copying functions. Here, the individual memory tracks are initialized, allocated, and then released, each of which is tracked by the bitmap. The memory tracks are copied to the secondary device as data is written to the various memory tracks. In this situation, the various memory tracks often include varying statuses, which allows the bitmap to only track the formatting and copying functions on a per memory track basis.